On Thursday, Mastrantoni told board members they need to "make sure a test file is set up and it's tested thoroughly."

"It's taking a little longer than what we'd thought," he said, adding that if the tests pan out "we could conceivably turn the switch in August and make it happen. That's our hope, anyway."

In other matters, department staff was able to finally dispose of filtrates.

Mastrantoni said they'd had bids ranging from $243,000 to $300,000 for the project, "and that didn't include the permits or landfill fees associated with dumping it."

"We've been trying to figure out how to get it out," he said. "We had a lot of discussions, did a lot of research ... and then (adapted) equipment so we could" get it out of the tank, load into a truck and took it to the landfill in compliance with federal regulations.

"We did it all in house," he said. "And through that effort, we saved a sizable amount of money. We kept the board from spending a whole lot of extra money on something that had to be taken care of."

The work ended up costing the board $26,016.52, substantially less than the $243,000-plus contractors had wanted.

The board met behind closed doors to discuss litigation and matters of negotiation.